Imagine if there existed a spiritual
secret which would ensure that all your actions would be viewed in Heaven in a
positive light. Heavenly angels would come to your defense and would work
strenuously to find excuses for your sins. Amazingly, whatever excuse they would
offer would gain favor in the Heavenly Court. Their defense would result
in your acquittal in many instances and even when the verdict was “Guilty!” you
would be dealt with mercifully.
Surely you would be anxious to hire a
legal team and even pay millions of dollars to receive this sort of defense. In
truth, anyone can obtain these celestial defense lawyers at no charge
whatsoever.
It is really quite simple. If we judge
our fellow man favorably, then in Heaven we are judged favorably. To the extent
that we seek to find excuses for our fellow man`s behavior, the Heavenly angels
will seek to find excuses for us. This is the primary benefit—but surely not the
only one—of judging others favorably.
The positive commandment "With righteousness you shall judge your
fellow" (Vayikra), requires one to judge favorably and see his actions in a
positive light. If the circumstances can easily be judged
favorably, one is absolutely required to do
so. If circumstances lean toward a negative
interpretation, nevertheless, says the Chofetz Chaim, it is quite correct to
keep an open mind on the matter
and not decide that the person is guilty. This
is when the person is considered a beinoni (average) in his mitzvah observance. If he is known
to be God-fearing, then one is required to
judge him favorably even when circumstances lean towards
guilt.
There is no question that judging
unfavorably is the great engine that drives the “loshon hora machine.”
Take the following example:
A person goes to a wedding and tells
his friend, “The service was terrible. It really wasn’t worth the
money.”
But perhaps the caterer is
almost bankrupt and he had to manage three
events on the same night just to keep his business afloat and feed his ten
children. Awareness of this possibility would certainly impel you to ignore the
fact that the roast beef was rather rare and was served a
bit late.
The Torah requires us to make
allowances for people who don’t live up to our expectations of them. By judging
others favorably, says the Chofetz Chaim, we will guarantee ourselves great
reward in the World to Come, and our lives in this
world will be free of strife and low in anger as we become kinder, more understanding
individuals.
Important Numbers
